i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

through Auxilio Mundial (World Relief) 94 to renovate 70 manzanas. Most of the present
members were relocated from the nearby communities of Varial, Cantil, and San Pablo.
There are 85 families in the cooperative; when they arrived at Guanacastillo, only 15
families were living in the area.
Filimón Muñoz Florian, president of La Pedro; Cándido Martínez, vocal; and
Francisco Matey, vice president of the UCA, have been the most involved in recounting
the story of their land claim case to us. The following is from my February 2006
fieldnotes when Filimón, Cándido, and Francisco explained the situation. These three
spoke so adamantly and passionately about the situation that I struggled to keep up with
their comments.
In 1996, there were rumors that the previous owners of the co-op’s land were
trying to reclaim it. The co-op acted quickly to get their title indemnified by Doña
Amparo Varela, the last owner before the land was confiscated by MIDINRA under the
FSLN Agrarian Reform. Filimón pointed out that not only is this land the main economic
resource for the co-op’s 85 members, but also that it provides the main water source for
620 families that depend on La Pedro.
The property once belonged to the Gurdian family. Don Pablo Gurdian passed
away from cancer and his wife could not manage the farm alone. It was wasting away. So
she sold the land to Amparo Varela. The Revolutionary government confiscated the land
from Doña Amparo. She received compensation for her holdings, and the state handed
the property over to the Pedro Altamirano cooperative in 1981. The property includes
94 World Relief is a Baltimore-based evangelical Christian poverty relief organization.
Their mission is to “empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable.” Their work
in Madriz, Nicaragua is based in microfinance. http://www.wr.org/
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